


Voices like Windchimes

by Domoz



Category: Critical Hit (Podcast)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 01:43:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5689759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Domoz/pseuds/Domoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ket wants to learn how to communicate with spirits, so he goes to the most spiritual guy he knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Voices like Windchimes

The trip to the southern continent was a long one, even by airship.

 

In fact, Sekhar decided, were it not for the speed they gained by flying, he would have preferred to walk. There was a whole lot of nothing to do up here, and even less to look at. It was making him, and everyone else, antsy.

 

So Sekhar tried to meditate. This normally would work pretty well, so long as people left him alone, but today he had been interrupted no less than three times. Twice by Little Sparkle asking if he wanted to join a card game, and once by Orem who had just asked “Everything alright in here?” and then left after hearing an exasperated, “Yes.”

 

So the fourth time there was a knock on the door of his cabin, Sekhar set his jaw and said in his most no-nonsense voice, “I'm busy.”

 

Even still, the door cracked open to reveal the person who least he expected to come and bother him.

It was Ket, who raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “Well, when will you be done?”

 

He did not glare. _He did not glare_ , because he was calm and in control of his frustration. The most he showed of it was a sigh.

“Now, I suppose. What do you want?”

Ket blinked. He was unreadable, as always.

“I want a favor.”

 

In this case, curiosity overcame frustration.

“What could you possibly want from me?”

 

Ket took that as an invitation to come in, and closed the door behind him.

He cleared his throat.

“Well,” he said, “I know that you have a connection to nature and spirits and everything. I happen to want to learn how to communicate with them.”

 

Sekhar stared at Ket disbelievingly. He still hadn't decided what he was expecting from Ket, but it certainly wasn't this.

 

Ket seemed to read the confusion in his silence and went on. “I'm sure you wouldn't ordinarily consider it, but we're going to be traveling together and I don't think I'm going to get a better opportunity to learn. It couldn't hurt to have someone else who knows what they're doing around.”

 

More silence. Ket broke eye contact to look at some spot on the wall.

“So?”

 

Sekhar sighed.

“You're right to think that normally I wouldn't. There are people who might kill me for teaching secrets like that to someone outside a druidic circle. But you're also right that you're not going to get a better opportunity, and I imagine that if I say no that you're going to try and teach yourself.”

 

Ket gave a small nod.

 

“Which is unwise, not to mention dangerous. For everyone. So yes, I will help you.”

“Oh,” Ket said. “Well when do we start?”

 

Sekhar felt a small smile creep onto his face from hearing the surprise in Ket's voice. He stood up and stretched.

“We might as well start now. Nothing better to do, right? Follow me.”

 

He stepped around Ket and went out the door, then walked out to the deck of the airship. There was no one out there and it was cold and windy, which was exactly what Sekhar wanted.

 

Ket followed, but waited in the doorway. He seemed concerned.

“Care to explain?” he asked. “You're supposed to be teaching me after all.”

 

Sekhar took a deep breath of the cold air. It felt good.

“Normally when you learn this stuff there's all sorts of philosophy you'd learn first. But honestly, when I was first learning, it didn't make any sense to me. I was only able to sort it all out by actually going and communicating with the spirits.”

 

He turned back to look at Ket, who was gripping the side of the door like the wind was going to blow him away, but there was a determined look on this face.

 

“I should warn you though,” said Sekhar, “communicating with spirits in close association like this has a chance to get… Intimate.”

Ket's eyebrows shot up.

“Intimate?”

 

Sekhar couldn't help but chuckle. “Probably not in the way that you're thinking. But if there's two peoplewho _have_ spirits sitting close to each other and trying to communicate _with_ spirits, what do you think is going to happen?”

 

Ket's face went blank and his voice was very carefully steady.

“Oh,” he said. “I guess that makes sense.”

 

“Are you sure you still want to do this?”

 

There was a long moment of silence. It seemed like that might actually be enough to dissuade Ket from trying this, after all. He hadn't meant to scare him off of the idea, but Sekhar couldn't say he would be very upset if that's what he had done.

 

Then Ket looked up at Sekhar and said, “Yeah, I do.”

 

Ah, there was that damnable grin again. He couldn't believe that he was already enjoying this so much.

 

“Then come on.”

 

Ket followed him onto the deck of the ship and all the way up to the bow, where they sat across from each other, both cross legged.

 

They could feel the wind here, but it wasn't so loud that they had to shout.

Ket still seemed uncertain.

“How much do you know about… Well, me? And the bird?” he asked.

 

Sekhar hummed under his breath.

“I know that it was caused by spiritual contamination, and I know that you're not totally new at this.”

 

Ket nodded.

“The only spirit I've ever had a strong connection to is my eagle, and even that's… Complicated. I use the eagle to run translation, because when I try to talk to spirits myself it's like trying to listen to someone talk underwater.”

 

Sekhar had to consider this for a moment.

“So basically,” he said, “without the eagle, you'd be a complete layman.” Ket looked offended, but Sekhar went on. “I understand you got cleansed after the fact, though, so your connection with the eagle shouldn't preclude you to communicating with other spirits. But you shouldn’t use that connection as a crutch.”

 

Ket's expression shifted from indignation to something more like guilt.

“I know,” he said. “I don't want to.”

 

“Well then,” said Sekhar, “why don't you show me what you can do, and we can start from there?”

 

Ket nodded, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Sekhar did the same.

 

There were a few spirits around: spirits of the sky, of the wind, and the clouds. They tended to give the airship a wide berth, but they shouldn't be terribly hard to communicate with, even if what they would have to say would probably be complaints about the ship and its passengers.

But Sekhar didn't reach out to any of them just yet. Instead, he waited.

 

He could feel Ket's spirit, but it didn't feel close by like it should have. Talking to it would be like trying to talk to someone through a brick wall. He could feel that Ket was obviously trying, but it seemed like something was holding him back.

 

Sekhar opened his eyes to see Ket sweating despite the cold air. A minute later, Ket opened his eyes as well, apparently having made no progress.

 

Sekhar scratched his chin.

“Well the first important thing,” he said, “is that you're not in a bad emotional state when trying to do this.”

 

Ket's mouth quirked down.

“I feel fine. I just didn't feel any spirits to reach out too.”

 

Sekhar hummed. “There were spirits out there, but they weren't exactly the chatty type. It may just be inexperience. When I learned this, it was in a place that was very connected to nature.”

 

Ket looked discouraged for only a moment, because Sekhar went on.

“Even then, it wasn't a very easy skill to learn. The only thing for it is to keep practicing.”

 

Ket looked out at the empty sky ahead.

“I see,” he said. “Then I guess I'll just have to keep trying.”

 

-

 

They went out to the deck of the ship together several times over the next few days, and Ket tried. Sekhar kept a close eye on him, but it seemed he wasn't making any more progress on his own.

 

Ket seemed to be keeping a surprisingly level head about all of this, or at least wasn't showing that he was bothered by his own lack of progress.

In fact, Sekhar found himself more frustrated than Ket appeared to be. It got to the point where, for lack of ideas of what to do, he asked Ket to bring out his bird.

 

He watched very carefully this time. It didn't seem to be all that different from any other spiritual companion he had encountered. The difference seemed to be in how the connection worked. It was like the link was tangled and snarled up in a thousand places.

 

He watched the corporeal Ket scratch the eagle's head and frowned. Every person's connection with the spirits _was_ unique, but this seemed wrong. Ket caught his expression and frowned back.

“What's the problem?” he asked.

 

“I don't know that it's a problem,” Sekhar replied carefully, “but your connection with your eagle is far more… Complicated than what I expected.”

 

Ket chuckled, but his expression was dark.

“Well, considering everything we went through to make that bond, that doesn't surprise me. But truth be told it's been years and I still haven't even learned the spirit's name.”

 

That certainly took Sekhar aback.

“Normally,” he said slowly, “the name is the first thing you learn when making a connection with a spirit. Are you sure it's never told you?”

Ket shook his head.

“We don't really ever communicate with words. I was starting to think maybe the spirit just didn't have a name, or that it couldn't speak.”

Sekhar watched Ket as he spoke, but he didn't seem to be lying .He wouldn't have any reason to. So he sighed and held out his arm.

“Do you mind?” he asked.

 

Ket seemed suspicious, but he held out his arm and the eagle obediently hopped over to Sekhar.

 _Hello,_ he said to it, _I am Sekhar, do you have a name?_

The physical form of the eagle started to preen, but he felt the line of communication open between them.

_I am The Flock's Darkest Feather, and you are here to ask about Ket._

_I am,_ Sekhar confirmed, _do you have any insight as to why he has such trouble communicating with spirits?_

 

The bird chirped as it preened, but Sekhar heard, _There are many binds on him, and there were before I ever arrived. They need to be removed if he is to have a hope of understanding us._

Sekhar only just stopped himself from cursing out loud. Of course this would be so complicated.

 _Thank you_ , he said to the bird, _I'll see what I can do to help._

 _Then thank you for helping_ , the eagle replied as it hopped back to Ket's shoulder.

Ket was watching him with a wary look.

“Well?” He said, “You looked awfully concerned just then. What's the deal?”

 

Sekhar pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to think.

“It would seem,” he finally decided to say, “that there is an external reason for your troubles. I need to think on what to do about it.”

Ket took a deep breath, but all he said was, “Oh.”

Sekhar put a hand on Ket's shoulder and gave what he hoped was a sympathetic smile.

“Don't worry,” he said, “I'll think of something. In the meantime, you should try and focus on learning the name of your companion.”

Ket's eyes slid over to his bird and he nodded.

Sekhar considered something else for a moment, then spoke again. “I'll give you a piece of philosophy to think on, too, though it might seem a bit ridiculous to you. Just remember that everything is everything all at once.”

 

Ket was still watching his eagle with a concerned expression. “I see,” he said.

 

Sekhar let go of his shoulders and sighed.

“We'll figure something out,” he said. “Tomorrow.”

 

-

 

Sekhar spent the night in his cabin, thinking.

 

Without knowing what exactly was keeping Ket from connecting with the spirits, his actual ideas for fixing the problem were limited.  
He had a vague idea that Ket had associated with devils, and if they had caused it then he wasn't sure there was much he could do. It would be easiest if it had been done by another user of primal magic, but then he had to worry about the reason it had been done in the first place.

He worried more about what Ket's reaction would be if he had to call this all off. It would be such a shame, because Ket seemed honestly sincere about this, and based on what he had heard from Randus, Ket had never been sincere about anything in his life.

That, and Sekhar was having fun trying to teach what he knew. It had been a long time since there had been someone he could talk to about the spirits who wasn't a spirit themselves.

 

He didn't get a particularly solid sleep that night.

 

-

 

They met out on the bow of the ship very near sunrise.

Ket didn't look like he had gotten a lot of rest, either. Sekhar already didn't have high hopes of this going well.

 

Ket had the egg he used to summon the eagle with him, and looked at Sekhar ashamedly.

“I didn't manage to figure anything else out,” he said. “And I don't think I really made any sense of that, uh, _philosophy_ you shared with me, either.”

Sekhar chose to ignore his tone of voice for the time being. Instead, he sat down and gestured for Ket to sit with him.

 

“I want to try something,” Sekhar said as he held out his hands. “I'm going to try and communicate with you, and I want you to see if you can understand me.”

 

Ket stared at him for a long time, expression unreadable.

Then he sighed and held his own hands out uncertainly.

“I'll try.”

 

Sekhar took Ket by the wrists and closed his eyes.

“Good,” he said. “Then try and keep your breathing in time with mine.”

 

Then he reached out to Ket's spirit.

It was like reaching into a patch of briars. It stung  his face and lungs, and yet it didn't feel like this was caused by magic at all. Ket himself seemed to be the source of it, and whatever it was stemmed from something far deeper than just stress or sadness.

He could feel Ket trying to reach back, to establish the connection, but he was getting in the way of himself.

Sekhar did something unwise. He reached in farther. Somehow he had gotten it in his head that if he could just _make the connection,_ then he could fix this.

 

It was a mistake. It was like swimming in needles, and every needle was an old memory. An old feeling of anger and tiredness, of mistakes, of death, of promises kept and broken. There were glimpses of things waiting to be said that never would be.

They weren't all Ket's, either. There were the memories of fey, and devils, and of a whole aggregation of things from the Kobold Alley that made this even harder.

 

Then he was through to Ket's spirit - not without wounds - and the connection was made.

He heard Ket take in a sharp breath, but he wasn't done yet.

Now came the trouble of trying to bring Ket through it, too. Sekhar tried to go back the way he had come, and he took Ket with him.

 

It wasn't any easier the second time through. The pain was very physical at this point, and he knew Ket was feeling it, too. Sekhar tried to ignore anything that was too personal, but some of what he saw was troubling to say the least.

 

(He'd have to ask later how Ket had made enemies of so many gods.)

 

Then, just like that, they were out. He could feel the wind spirits’ curiosity at what had just happened, but all of a sudden he wasn't really feeling up to talking.

 

Sekhar opened his eyes and let go of Ket's wrists. He had a headache. And a toothache. And probably a lot of other aches that he'd have to examine later.

 

Ket was pale and covered with sweat; Sekhar imagined he looked the same.

 

Ket was taking shuddering breaths, and when he talked his voice was hoarse.

“Why… What was that?”

Sekhar was rubbing his aching temples.

“You tell me! That was-” He stopped, sighing. “I'm sorry. If I had known that was going to happen, I never would have attempted any of it.”

Ket was silent for a long moment, then he sighed, too.

“I don't really know what you _did._ But it's fine, there was a _reason_ you didn't know… And whatever it was _did_ work in the end. I could feel some spirits around the ship.”

Despite his pain, Sekhar smiled.

“That's good,” he said, then hesitated for a moment, voice getting quieter “It does get easier, you know.”

Ket somehow had it in him to smile back.

“I sure hope so.”

-

 

They both took a few days to recover after that. Sekhar slept a lot, or he _tried to,_ because now on top of the other interruptions, he also had Randus poking in his head and asking if he was okay. He supposed he appreciated the concern, but that didn't mean it wasn't bothersome.

 

Ket didn't seem to have that particular problem. People left him alone, and he was acting as though he had recovered already.

The eagle was out nearly constantly now; Sekhar got the impression that it and Ket had a lot to talk about, now that they could.

He also seemed to be avoiding Sekhar, and Sekhar could pretty well guess why. He would certainly want some time away from the person who had dragged him through his own personal hell.

Yet at the same time, he wanted to get back to it. He wanted to see what progress Ket could make now, wanted to show him the wonders of what he did.

But he didn't know how resilient Ket's spirit was, and didn't want to risk further injury on top of what he had already done. He contented himself with nodding at Ket over meals and ignoring the little squeeze in his chest when Ket didn't ask when they were starting again.

He examined _that_ particular feeling later, and decided that it was worry. Worry that he had turned Ket off of the idea of communicating with the spirits, that he had somehow broken Ket's trust, and he would start trying to learn how to do it on his own. Which was ironic, really. He hadn't trusted Ket at all before all of this, and now he wanted nothing more than to sit with him on the prow of the airship and _talk._ It was ridiculous, really.

Well, it had been a long time since Sekhar had someone to practice with. He supposed he just missed it.

-

 

They landed on the southern continent not much later. Little Sparkle was leading the way here, and had suggested that not only that they leave the airship, but that they avoid roads entirely. It seemed that in her absence, the Salamander's Coil had made allies and placed the lot of them on a wanted list. She just laughed and said, “It could be worse.”

 

It was several more days after that when Ket finally approached him again, with a half-cocked smile and a bird on his arm.

“I think,” he said, “That I'm ready to try talking with other spirits. Assuming you're still ready to teach me, that is.”

 

Sekhar smiled, honestly a little surprised at the relief he felt flood through him.

“I'm ready,” “ he said, “whenever you want to start.”

-

They went out into the woods that night, not too far from camp but far enough that they couldn't see the light of the campfire anymore. They sat across from each other in the leaf litter, cross legged and enjoying the warm night air.

 

“So do you want to start, or should I?”

Ket was already back to his old cocky self; Sekhar felt he ought to warn him about what that attitude would get him with the spirits, but he also knew that wasn't a lesson that sunk in for him until he had learned it himself.

So instead, Sekhar just chuckled and said, “You go ahead, if you think you can.”

 

Sekhar started looking for the spirits himself. There were plenty around, and they seemed to be amiable enough for conversation.

But he didn't initiate yet. It didn’t feel like Ket was on the other side of a wall this time, but there was still something strange separating them, a weird film that left a bitter taste in his mouth .Sekhar was wary of doing anything to help, for fear of a repeat of last time.

So he waited. And he waited. And right as he was considering opening his eyes to check on Ket, he felt that barrier between them break, and there he was.

 

There was no hiding behind his bravado here. Ket was nervous and uncertain and very obviously had no idea what to do or say. Oh, how it brought back memories of the first time Sekhar had talked with the spirits. At least Ket had someone with him.

 _It's so good to finally see you,_ said Sekhar. _I thought that you were going to lead the charge?_

Somehow Ket managed to have a miffed tone even in spirit.

_I still had some stuff to sort out. And I think I will for a while. I'm here now though, right? Who are we talking to?_

 

Sekhar found himself amused by Ket's response, but he decided not to say so. Instead he said, _That's up to you. Pick one you like._

 

 _Um,_ Ket said _._

 

He looked around before picking a nearby tree spirit. Then he hesitated.

_Is there some sort of etiquette I should following or what?_

 

Sekhar considered this for a moment.

_How about I start the conversation, and you follow my lead? Just to give you an idea of what to expect._

 

Ket was trying to hide his relief, but he wasn't quite practiced enough to conceal how his spirit felt. Well, he was better than most, having never done this before.

 

 _That sounds good to me,_ he said.

So Sekhar reached out to the tree spirit. It should be nice, he reasoned. It had been too long since he'd had a nice sit-down conversation with any spirits.

 _Hello_ , he said. _My name is Sekhar_ Obleea _._

It took Ket a moment to catch on. _And I'm Ket H'zard._

The spirit responded, obviously suspicious. _I am Thin-Leaves Rough-Bark. What do you need from me?_

 _No need,_ said Sekhar. _We simply want to know how it goes._

 

The spirit seemed to consider this. Finally, it said, _The past winter was unseasonably warm. It has been nice, and I have not even had to shed my leaves, but it does raise concern._

 

 _I see,_ Sekhar replied. _Certainly a concern, but better to wait and see what next winter brings than needlessly worry._

 

_You speak truth, Sekhar Obliea. The year you do not prepare for winter is the year it takes you._

 

That seemed to be all the spirit had to say on the matter, so Sekhar said, _Thank you for your time_ ,and broke the connection.

He opened his eyes to see a rather confused-looking Ket.

“Are the conversations always so formal?” he asked

Sekhar shook his head, though there was a smile on his face.

“Each spirit is unique, but I think you'll find that most of them respond better if you're polite to them.”

Ket had a contemplative expression, but he seemed to understand. He also seemed more tired than a little conversation like that should justify.

 

Sekhar stood and offered a hand to Ket, who took it.

Ket yawned as soon as he stood got to his feet.

“Are they all this exhausting to talk to? I feel like we were talking with that spirit for hours.”

 

“You'll get used to it. And that will take practice.”

-

 

So they practiced. Every night after making camp, they would go a little ways off into the woods and gossip with some spirits.

Ket improved very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Sekhar suspected he was talking to spirits without him there. At any rate, he didn't have to hold Ket's hand through it anymore.

 

He was right though. He was genuinely enjoying having someone to practice with again, though he was pretty sure he was liked spending time with Ket more than he did actually talking to the spirits.

 

In fact, one night after they had finished listening to a spirit complain about how rude the new weeds that were growing in were, Ket looked at Sekhar right in the eye, sighed, and said, “Thank you. I know that deciding to teach me probably wasn't the easiest decision, but I've been enjoying it.”

Sekhar found himself blushing a bit, and it took him a moment to stammer out, “Don't worry yourself over it. Truth be told, I'm having a good time as well.”

Ket nodded and smiled, and started making his way back to camp, leaving Sekhar alone to contemplate what he had just done there.

He _liked_ Ket, he realized. Far more than he would have expected from the stories or first impressions, and he didn't know quite why just yet. The sly comments Little Sparkle and Orem made about the two of them being in the woods all the time certainly didn't help.

Well, no need to act on it, or do else do anything _unwise_.

 

-

 

They come across a problem a few weeks later.

It was a lovely evening in the southern continent. Sekhar had shared a bit more philosophy and Ket was joking about how he still hadn't figured out what Sekhar had told him before.

 

Ket seemed to be happy enough to go at it again today. The rather mundane conversations they were having apparently weren’t wearing on him.

 

(“It's nice,” he would later explain, “to have a normal conversation when you're out on one of these adventures. You start to miss them after a while.”

Sekhar wasn't sure he agreed, but then he didn't care for gossip quite like Ket did. He was having a good time regardless.)

 

Ket looked at him and said, “Ready to start?”

Sekhar made his first mistake when he replied, “After you.”

 

When Ket went searching, he found the forest spirits he expected. He also found that they were angry.

Sekhar reached the spirits just in time to see one of them rush Ket.

The spirit was screaming something that Sekhar doubted Ket could understand. It wanted retribution, an apology, an _explanation_. It seemed that loggers and poachers had done quite a number on the area, and made no attempt to justify themselves to the local spirits. It was a sad thing to see, and it happened all too often.

It was also dangerous. Between the two of them, Ket was the weaker link, and the one the spirit went for.

Ket's first instinct was to break the link between him and the spirit, which was a good response, but he did it sloppily and the spirit hung on. It could do real harm if it had a direct connection.

Sekhar was furious, and his tone of voice revealed that to the spirit.

He was yelling, as much as one could to a spirit.

_Stop this! We mean you no harm._

The spirit _screamed,_ which was really not a good sign.

 

Well, first priority was making sure Ket was okay. He forcibly grabbed the spirit and pulled it away from Ket. Then he called out, _Go!_

 

He could feel Ket hesitate. He probably wanted to help, but the problems this spirit had were too big for the two of them to solve in their time passing through.

He would normally just cast the spirit away with a warning, and maybe a promise to return, but he had to wait until Ket severed his connection. He could feel it squirming and clawing at him, and it would almost certainly attack Ket again if he let it go right now.

 

 _Isn't this what we're here to stop?_ Ket asked.

Sekhar gritted his teeth. _Yes, and no. We can discuss this later. Now go!_

 

Ket waited only a second longer, apparently agreeing that a retort was less important than escaping.

Sekhar immediately cast the spirit away and quickly severed his own connection. That one didn't seem strong enough to cause any damage in the physical world, but if it had friends they might still be in danger.

He opened his eyes to see Ket shaking and coughing and felt a pang of worry.

Sekhar started forward and already had a hand on Ket's shoulder before Ket sputtered out, “I'm fine, I'm fine. I just wasn't expecting that, was all.”

 

Sekhar sighed. Ket certainly _was_ resilient, but that hadn't made the moment any less terrifying.

“I'm sorry,” he said, “I should have realized something was wrong.”

Ket waved his hand dismissively and said, “Well, I didn't pick up on anything either. And neither of us have been to the southern continent before, so we don't really know what to expect.”

He shrugged and went on, “I'm not too torn up over it.”

 

Sekhar smiled sadly. Ket had brought up a good point, even if he hadn't meant to.

“Torn up or not, I think it's best to limit how much we talk to these spirits until we know what we're getting into. We never know who might have allied with them, after all.”

That seemed to take Ket by surprise, and the disappointment on his face felt like a stab to the chest. Sekhar knew that was a ridiculous response, but that didn't change how he felt, either.

“Oh,” Ket said. “Well.”

Sekhar sighed again. “I suppose, in the meantime, there's some philosophy you need to catch up on. Like why we can't solve the problems of every spirit.”

-

 

The days after that weren't as bad as Sekhar expected them to be. They didn't wander off into the woods anymore,but instead spent late nights and watches sitting next to each other discussing druids and shamans and spirits. Sometimes one of the other three would listen in, but more often than not they were left alone under the stars.

It was stupidly romantic, Sekhar thought, and he seemed to be the only one who realized.

Ket, perhaps unintentionally, revealed more about himself, too. He knew more than he let on about spirits, and Sekhar found out he learned some from his grandmother, some from the Kobold Alley, and some of it from his own experimentations.

His grasp on the philosophy was a bit... Less admirable. He had his own ideas about how things should work and while he was open to hearing the theories, Sekhar wasn't certain he was taking any of them to heart.

(He had already decided that he was going to convince Ket how important they were, no matter how much time it might take.)

Before too long, he was out of new philosophy to give and out of excuses to keep Ket up at night. He seemed to appreciate the extra sleep, at least.

 

-

 

It was several weeks later than that when they set up camp in a nice little copse with a creek. They were close to where the Salamander's Coil was supposed to be, and tensions were running a little high.

Ket seemed to be especially fidgety, or, more likely, he was the the one the Sekhar noticed the most.

He sat next to Ket and leaned over his shoulder.

“Something troubling you?” he asked.

 

Ket barely concealed his jump of surprise.

“Not troubling,” he said slowly, “I was just thinking that a nice place like this would probably have some nice spirits to commune with.”

Sekhar felt a pang of nervousness. He knew what Ket was getting at and immediately began to worry that he would try to talk to them on his own. Normally, he’d have decided by now that Ket was advanced enough to do so on his own and he'd encourage it, were it not for what happened last time.

So he relented. If something happened, it would be better if he was there, and as wary as he was he missed doing it, too.

He stood up and offered a hand to Ket.

“I think I saw a nice place when we were setting up camp, if you would join me.”

Ket got that shit-eating grin on his face that Sekhar had come to hold dear and took his hand.

It was a little ways away, on an hill clear of trees. They sat across from each other on the top and each took a deep breath to prepare.

They started their search for spirits at about the same time, and both were surprised to find that the area was almost completely empty.

 

Sekhar could feel Ket about to speak, probably some worry about being bound up again, but before he could, Sekhar felt the problem.

There was a dark and angry spirit, deep beneath the earth and coming up fast. He didn't have time to even warn Ket before it was upon them. It did not state it's name or it's intent; it just paused for a moment to size them up and then went for Ket.

This wasn't the same sort of attack. This spirit wasn't trying to hurt him, it was trying to _possess_ him. Ket was strong-willed enough to hold off it's first assault, to shout at it, W _hat are you?_

The spirit stopped. Sekhar sensed that it was under some obligation to be here, and to follow at least some orders.

_I am so old my name is forgotten. I am guardian of a tomb of people so long dead that not even their bones remain._

So that answered that. Someone had long ago bound the spirit here - probably not through the nicest means - and left it. It had scared away the other spirits, no doubt.

Sekhar had to think quickly.

 _We can help you,_ he said. _If we know what binds you, we can break it. You can go free._

 

They could both feel the anger bristle off of the spirit.

_A promise I have heard before, and heard broken before. No. I will free myself._

And with a force Sekhar had never witnessed from a spirit, it broke the connection he had with it to focus on Ket.

This time when he opened his eyes, he lying down in the grass. Ket was, too but curled up in a way that implied he was in considerable pain.

 

He was not panicking. _He was not panickin_ g. He had pulled people through worse before. All he had to do was make a connection to Ket, and together the two of them could probably easily push this thing out.

He tried, and perhaps almost made it in, but the combination of the spirit and Ket's own resistance to forming that link made it almost impossible.

Almost.

Perhaps it was desperation, perhaps something more, but he managed to push through that sea of needles again, to get to Ket.

 

But to his surprise, Ket was already winning the battle, he had more control over his own spirit then he let on, and was using that advantage to push the angry spirit back at every turn. He arrived just in time to see the spirit pushed out, so he did the thing that Ket may not have been able to do. He severed the connection to the spirit - just as forcibly, if not more so than it had to him - and cast it back to the tomb that it guarded.

Then, far more carefully, he broke his connection with Ket and retreated back to the material world.

Ket was already sitting up and gasping for breath. The moment Sekhar became aware of that, he was over to Ket, putting his hands on Ket’s shoulders and fixing him with a concerned gaze.

“Are you alright?” Sekhar could hear the waver in his own voice, but he didn't care.

 

Ket still seemed a bit stunned and his voice was hoarse, but he nodded. “Believe it or not, I've been possessed before. I'm fine.”

 

Two things finally registered for Sekhar. The first was that he was very close to Ket, who didn't seem to be protesting that at all. The second was that Ket had been attacked _again,_ and could have been very seriously hurt.

 

Ket was visibly confused  by the fact that Sekhar continued to linger.

“I'm fine,” he said. “Really.”

 

He was fine. He was okay, and Sekhar was so relieved that he decided to do something unwise.

He took Ket's face in his hands and kissed him.

Ket made a surprised noise, but otherwise was too stunned to move.

 

Sekhar moved back and cleared his throat.

“Um,” he said. “Sorry. I got a bit ...Overwhelmed there.”

Ket stared at him for a long moment, mulling over what had just happened.

“By… Spirits?” he asked.

 

“...By emotion.”

Sekhar cleared his throat again and stood up.

“At any rate, we should probably deal with that spirit,” he said, though he didn't sound as certain of it as he would have liked.

 

Ket shook his head. “I don't think that spirit can bother anyone for the time being. Right now, we should go back and get some rest. We can figure out what to do later.”

Sekhar nodded, though he wasn't sure if he agreed or not. At the moment, he was to mortified with himself to argue.

He offered his hand to Ket, who took it to help himself up.

 

And then he held on to it, which was new.

“Sekhar,” he said, “I think we should probably also talk about what you just did there, too.”

His voice was steady, but Ket was looking somewhere at the ground past Sekhar instead of at him. It was probably for the best, really - Sekhar himself felt like he was about to die of embarrassment, which wasn't a feeling he had suffered from in years.

 

He picked his words very carefully.

“Well, I thought that it was obvious. I like you.”

 

Ket nodded and squeezed Sekhar’s hand, eyes finally coming up to meet his. He had his grin back.

“That's good,” he said. “I was worried I was the only one with feelings, here.”

 

Sekhar couldn't help but laugh, more out of relief than anything.

“Well, I’m glad that’s settled. Now I’m just ashamed our first kiss was under those circumstances.”

Ket tilted his head, an amused look on his face.

“It’s a good story. And besides, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of chances for more.”

 

With that, he leaned forward and planted a peck on Sekhar’s check.

“I'm sure they'll be missing us by now,” Ket said. “Shall we?”

It seemed Ket’s grin was infectious.

“I think we shall,” Sekhar replied.

  
And when they arrived back at camp hand in hand, they watched Orem hand over some gold to Little Sparkle, who gave them both a very smug looking wink.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Snoot! Snoot!! Snoot!!!!!!!!!!! They beta'd this and they don't even listen to critical hit


End file.
